Word.ws English Dictionary

play someone like a violin

play someone like a violin verb: to control or manipulate someone, especially by playing on their emotions.

Verb

play someone like a violin (third-person singular simple present plays someone like a violin, present participle playing someone like a violin, simple past and past participle played someone like a violin)

  1. (idiomatic) To control or manipulate someone, especially by playing on their emotions.

Synonyms of play someone like a violin

Forms of play someone like a violin

third-person singular presentplays someone like a violin
present participleplaying someone like a violin
past participleplayed someone like a violin
pastplayed someone like a violin

Questions about play someone like a violin

What does play someone like a violin mean?
Play someone like a violin means to control or manipulate someone, especially by playing on their emotions.
What part of speech is play someone like a violin?
Play someone like a violin is a verb.
What is the past tense of play someone like a violin?
The past tense of play someone like a violin is played someone like a violin.

Words near play someone like a violin in the dictionary

  1. play small
  2. play someone at their own game
  3. play someone false
  4. play someone like a bass fiddle
  5. play someone like a fiddle
  6. play someone like a violin
  7. Play Station
  8. play stick
  9. play sticks
  10. play street
  11. play streets

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: play someone like a violin (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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